RANGELEY, Maine (AP) — The Santa who's been posing for pictures next to the National Christmas Tree in Washington will be heading not to the North Pole but to Maine after the holidays.

Rob Hoffman, a retired pilot from Rangeley, has been moonlighting as Santa for eight years. This season, he was hired as the official Santa at President's Park, where he's been posing for 500 to 1,000 pictures a day.

Hoffman tells the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/YEIIJW ) that plenty of adults still want photos with Santa, but he does it for the joy it brings to children.